


Being Understood

by Estirose



Category: Power Rangers Time Force
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-26
Updated: 2016-10-26
Packaged: 2018-08-27 01:45:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8383063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Estirose/pseuds/Estirose
Summary: Katie understands Trip.





	

One learned a lot by living in close quarters with four other people that one had to spend lots of time with, and for that matter fight with. Not that Trip lacked experience in that area; with two sisters and a brother, parents and grandparents, he'd spent a lot of time in close quarters. He learned to avoid arguments, be unobtrusive, and cooperate with everybody.

That had given him the strength he needed to cope well in Time Force, even if he wasn't outgoing. It had allowed him to make friends and work well with others. Not that he was the boldest of cadets, but he did well enough that he graduated. And his ability to obey orders and his technical abilities gained him a place within the organization.

It had given him the ability to cope well with living a thousand years before he was born, in a strange land where he was mistaken for human, albeit an unusual human. But even there, he blended in, invisible despite his hair. In some ways, he coped better than the rest of his teammates. Jen and Lucas and Katie wanted to go back, and so did he, but he could wait. Could put things together and find ways to make each day worth living.

He smiled as Katie settled down beside him. He was lucky to have her. Lucky to have her strength, both emotional and physical. Being with her, being with the others, it gave him a lot of his strength. But being with her was the best. Sometimes he wished he wasn't Xybrian, didn't have to play by his culture's rules, didn't have to face the prospect of being called home. He dreamed of defying his family, choosing someone who wasn't Xybrian and didn't care about what his culture demanded of him.

And if he'd ask anybody, he'd ask Katie. Katie who would do it because they were friends, maybe even loved him, maybe even thought of him as more than a teammate.

"Are you okay?" Katie asked. She wasn't one to tippytoe around the question, a phrase he'd leaned in the century they were in.

"I'm fine," he said, making an adjustment to Circuit. He probably looked busy, something he'd cultivated early in life, not to discourage others, but to be able to opt out of social activities. Sometimes it was a lifesaver, keeping people away when he wanted them to be away, but right now, it was something he had to stop doing. But he couldn't drop the adjustment now.

"Are you sure?" Katie asked, and he had to smile. It wasn't just an idle teammate checking in on another, as they were all wont to do. Katie was concerned, and Katie was letting him know it, without rephrasing the whole question. Well, sort of rephrasing the question.

"I'm fine." He finished the adjustment on Circuit, putting the panel back in place. Circuit should be working better than ever now, and they needed him to work better than ever now. "I just had to fix Circuit."

He was avoiding the question, and he knew it, but he really didn't know how to answer. "Fine" for him didn't seem to mean the same for everybody else. Maybe it was because he was Xybrian, maybe it was because he was the team geek, but he really wasn't sure how to answer the question the way everybody else was expecting. He admired Katie, but he didn't know how to answer her.

But as he tried to answer her, she put a hand on his shoulder. "I understand."

And it looked like she did. For one moment, he was understood. They shared a smile, and he felt like he could do anything. Even love. Even defy.

He was good at adapting.


End file.
